JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Every year, the president of the United States determines how many refugees can enter this country. The law says he must consult Congress on this number. But last week, President Trump went ahead without Congress and made it official. The U.S. will allow just 7,500 refugees into this country in the next year, and that is the lowest since the program started. And the administration has said white Afrikaners from South Africa would be prioritized.
Sharif Aly leads the International Refugee Assistance Project, an organization that helps refugees and other immigrants navigate the legal process of resettlement, and he joins us here in studio. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
SHARIF ALY: Thank you so much for having me.
SUMMERS: So just on a very practical level, where does this leave the thousands of refugees who are already in the pipeline to come here to the United States?
ALY: It really leaves them in shambles, quite frankly. They are - currently have went through a very extraordinary vetting process to come into the United States. We have clients that have been calling us that have been in tears. They just want to come to safety after years of persecution and conflict.
SUMMERS: The law that established the current system of refugee admissions in this country is something called the Refugee Act of 1980. Can you just walk us through what that law guarantees refugees?
ALY: Well, that law allows for refugees to come into the United States through a process that includes a vetting process that also includes a determination by the president of where refugees are coming from. After going through that process, there is a resettlement agency that helps facilitate that settlement into the United States. That resettlement process is approximately six months to a year. Refugees are provided support for housing, English-as-a-second-language learning, opportunities for employment and support from local communities to help them integrate into society.
SUMMERS: And part of that law, as I understand it, it requires that the president consult Congress on the number of refugees that he determined should be let into the United States, which this administration did not do. The Trump administration says that's because the government is currently shut down. Do we expect lawsuits?
ALY: I can't tell you right now. However, it is a complete movement away from historical precedent and the law. The law actually requires the president and his Cabinet members to consult with Congress, so therefore, I do anticipate there will be a challenge to this. I cannot tell you who or what, but I do anticipate a challenge.
SUMMERS: What do you say to those who might make the case that it shouldn't be America's job to take in refugees?
ALY: There's a challenge right now with how people are scapegoating refugees and immigrants for the problems that exist in America today. If they are economic problems, refugees contribute economically. If people are afraid of their safety, refugees are the most vetted immigrants that come into the United States. If people are concerned about the change in their culture, if you look at any major city across the U.S., you are enjoying the cuisine of people who have come into this country from a variety of different places. You're enjoying the art, the music, the contribution to those communities. And what we're doing is we're closing ourselves off from the rest of the world at our own detriment, economically, culturally and, honestly, morally.
This is a humanitarian commitment that we've established in the 1980 Refugee Act - something that has been based on our American values of welcoming people regardless of what they have went through to find a new home in America to be a place for their safety, a place for their contribution.
SUMMERS: Now, there have been, of course, waves of refugees at various points across U.S. history, but am I correct that this is the first time that one ethnic group has been given preference? And we're, of course, talking about the white Afrikaners from South Africa, which are the same group that implemented apartheid in that country.
ALY: That is correct. And this is one of the concerns that the resettlement agencies have. We're not here to discuss the validity of Afrikaners, but what is afforded to them should be afforded to all people, considering that they are the most vetted people that come into this country. So the concern that many in our space have, including our organization, is that we're basically putting a door to all those who are not Afrikaners to this country, which really incites concerns about racism and xenophobia.
SUMMERS: Sharif, as you think about these new restrictions on refugees in the U.S., is there someone that comes to mind that you think about, who you worked with in the past, who maybe wouldn't be able to come into the United States now?
ALY: Yeah. Actually, there's quite a few, but one of them that I'll share with you is one of our clients that is currently part of the Pacito v. Trump case. His name is Pacito, and he is a father who fled from Congo with his wife and daughter. And after the - January 21, they were told that they were no longer going to be able to take their flight coming into the U.S. And they had shared with us that they felt like after so many doors had been closed in front of their faces, they finally thought, when they got approval to travel, that they were going to embark on a journey to a new home. And this is after years of fleeing violence in Congo, staying in Kenya to try to settle themselves, and they finally were told that, no, your travel is not allowed into the U.S.
Thankfully, due to the injunction we received early on in the Pacito v. Trump case, he was one of the 80 individuals that was allowed to come into the U.S. And that litigation is ongoing. However, he has communicated to us and told us, you know, how thankful and grateful he is that he's been able to come into the U.S. He's so thankful that his daughter is able to go to school now without fear for her safety, that him and his wife are able to pursue work and opportunities to have a dignified life here in the U.S. And the amount of gratitude that I've seen from him, along with so many other refugees, just indicates the passion that they have and commitment to serve in the U.S. in a manner that any person here would be proud to have them as their neighbor.
SUMMERS: We've been speaking with Sharif Aly, president of the International Refugee Assistance Project. Thank you so much.
ALY: Thank you so much.
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